Repeat ordinance violations cause grief for village

Saturday

Sep 16, 2017 at 8:55 AM

Michelle Langhout, Staff Reporter

GOOD HOPE — Numerous nuisance ordinance violations are causing problems for both residents and officials alike. During public comment, resident and former village trustee John Taft expressed concern about ongoing problems with nearby nuisance ordinance violators. He and other residents are having to contend with wild animals — including foxes and ground hogs — which have been making their dens nearby due to the poor condition of nearby structures.“I’m getting tired of the wild things around here,” he said.President John Connor said he has met with individuals to try to improve conditions in the area, and was advised that they are trying to get an exterminator in. “We’re going to discuss some options,” he said. “They’re more than willing to help.”Other ordinance violators have been going to court due to repeated violations dating back over a year. Property at 315 N. Washington is the subject of pending case #16-OV-20. Diestler said despite a February 2016 agreed judgment order which gave deadlines to have specific violations remediated, they still weren’t completed a year and a half later. She said she had sent the board a copy of the order and requested input from the board as to what concerns they still had on the property, if they differed from what was in the order.The owner had initially made progress by clearing tall vegetation, she said, adding, “but once the vegetation was cleared, we saw all the other issues regarding holes in windows, holes in (the) roof, absent garage doors and things of that sort.”She said they had gone to court periodically to extend the deadlines for remediation of the property because some progress had been made. “Then at one point, everything just stopped.”When she met with the owner on several occasions, he had told her he had health issues that prevented him from taking care of many of the problem areas that remained. She had advised him that the court order didn’t require him specifically to do the work; he could hire someone else to do it.She said she had originally sent the owner a list of things he would need to do to fulfill the village’s abatement requirements just after the February 2016 judgment. She recently sent him another copy of the list to remind him what still needed to be done.The problems that still remain are covering roof holes and then repairing them; replacing rotten wood, and painting the structure. “I never had told him he had to cut his rosebushes or he had to power-wash his house or anything like that,” she said. “We have to confine what we’re asking him to do to what our ordinance is saying, what the law requires.”Diestler said she was scheduled to go back to court Sept. 12 to set a final deadline as to what still needs to be done. She wanted input from the board so she could advise him of any additional issues.“So what you’re saying right now is everything is still in the same condition?” Connor asked. She said yes, adding that some boards on a structure have rotted since last year, but the vegetation was still cleared. The last deadline for remediation was April 30 last year, she said, but wasn’t met. Trustee Robin Riebling commented there has been recent progress on the property. Diestler agreed and said the owner had paid the judgment for $500 plus court costs. “That’s never been an issue. It’s just finishing the abatement.”The current property owner of record at 345 N. Monmouth has been given certain deadlines to abate nuisances, including vegetation “eight inches or above. He was told that both by myself and by the health department representative on more than one occasion,” she said. “He had various items of debris that was in the grass and in the weeds, other kinds of containers - containers that were still containing water, bags of dirt that were just here, there, everywhere on the property. He had cardboard that was collecting. He had an open garage at one point.”“All of these things were explained to him. There was one part - on, I think, his garage - that has a piece of rotten wood. We said, ‘You actually need to replace that. And he said, ‘Well, I was going to replace the whole roof.’ (I told him) ‘We’re not requiring you to replace the whole roof, just that rotten part, so that doesn’t further deteriorate.”There were also three inoperable vehicles. One has been removed, leaving two remaining on the property. “He initially…represented to us he was going to remove them by donating them to the recycling center and he said that now because he had paid for a survey of his property to establish that the back shed there isn’t really his, that he now needs to sell those vehicles rather than to donate them,” she said, adding that she told him he has had more than a year to remove them, and advised him they will be towed if he doesn’t remove them himself.She said he interrupted, talked over and argued with the judge to the point the judge threatened to jail him for contempt of court. He requested an attorney and was advised if he wanted one, he would have to hire one himself as this wasn’t a criminal case. The judge encouraged him to do whatever he can to eliminate problems on the property and to meet all the deadlines. Connor asked, “He was offered some help, and he refused help?”She said yes. “In fact, the health department representative himself, the director had been there on a couple of occasions and actually helped him do some things, and then it just stopped.”Connor added that the village had also offered to pick up debris if the owner set it out, but this hadn’t happened. A hearing has been set for Oct. 3 on the issue.Property at 335 N. Monmouth is causing problems because the owner of the property had passed, but no estate had been opened for her. The property fell into serious disrepair while one of the owner’s daughters lived there, and was “trashed” with a caved-in ceiling and roof, Diestler said. Another daughter was under the impression that she had ownership of the property based on a document her mother had prepared years before. However, the particular document in question was supposed to have been signed and recorded within a certain period of time after the owner’s death, Diestler said. She said the potential owner is willing to deed the property to the village, but she will have to establish ownership first. If records indicate the document wasn’t recorded in time, the property will go back to what the deed indicates, which is that it will go to both her and her sister. However, the sisters are not on speaking terms.Diestler said if ownership isn’t established, the property’s poor condition means the village can issue an abatement notice to both sisters, requiring them to either repair or demolish the property by a deadline, or face summary judgment. Alternately, the village can file statutory action on the property as a neglected and abandoned property because the last time taxes were paid was 2014. The village voted to approve accepting a deed from the potential owner if she can establish ownership, or to proceed with the statutory action if nobody can establish ownership.Further discussion on the issue of nuisance ordinances included the status of various properties and what the village could do with each situation.

Other itemsJennifer Percy and Beth Chatterton of the Sodbuster Committee said the committee now has the funds to order the impression swing for the park. They wanted to know if the village was able to assist financially with its assembly and installation. During discussion, Connor said concrete would be needed for installation. Village attorney Diane Diestler recommended the committee email a list of what they need to Connor. Since the item wasn’t on the agenda, Connor said the village would put it as an action item on the agenda for the next meeting. Treasurer Judy Baker-Julien requested a copy of receipt from the Sodbuster Committee for money the village donated from the park fund to the Sodbuster Committee for the purchase of the swing for auditing purposes. “That way we’ve got it to show why we transferred (the) money,” she said.Baker-Julien said the monthly statements balanced even with some outstanding checks. Two certificates of deposit are coming due next month: the general fund for about $30,000 and the sewer for $12,500.The next regular village meeting has been set for Monday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Reach Michelle Langhout by email at mlanghout@mcdonoughvoice.com or find her on Facebook.

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